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I was looking through a quilt art magazine the other day and came across listings for quilters' favorite things. This wasn't the short list, it was typed pages long and....only one quilter was listing her favorite items.

Now to my way of thinking when you list your favourite things, the list is the short kind, the ones where you list the best (in your mind) of the best. Typing paragraphs of favourite things in your particular quilt world without paring it down sounds a little amazing. So I thought I'd give it a go and see how far I got!

Hmmm... Let's start with the sewing machine. I have a Pfaff Creative Vision. Its a yummy machine, and it gets petted frequently. I am a great fan of Pfaffs, so this is not my first one nor second. The first one wore out, the brushes were replaced, and I was told I might get 5 more years out of it. My mother gets my hand me downs! I LOVED that machine. So now I LOVE this machine. The machine is so easy to operate, and I get to throw a little embroidery here and there on my art quilts. You dream it, the machine will produce it.

My other Pfaff (should this be a license plate?) I use is the Hobby Grand Quilter. It is one powerful quilting machine. I can use the Creative Vision for quilting, but nothing beats the Hobby Grand for speed. It is my FAVOURITE quilting machine.

Look at that! Two favourite machines, and no one made me choose one or the other...this could be relatively easy!

How about favourite FABRIC! Did I get your attention there? I love most fabric, but I specialize in green, blues and batiks/balis. My favourite colours are green and blue...so it goes without saying they would be my first choice at the store. I do buy others, but not much pink or red. They don't really rate on the favourite index of things. Not even close. BUT! (there's a but) Its a big BUT! (butt) If the fabric is a batik or bali, that any colour is probably a happy colour, strong in hue, multiple values on one meter, and indispensable to the quilt artist. Look at that, a full range of favourite fabrics, no limitations...joy oh joy!

So next comes the notions. That is a heavy duty question because it covers so many items. How can your favourite thread compare with your favourite stabilizer or rotary cutter? With this full page of yummies – I don't have too! What a treat!

Let's go with threads – first we like cotton threads because they;re nice and sturdy. Now look at those poly sheen and rayon threads. Can you say things like shine and shimmer? They add such effects to your thread play and quilting. Absolutely lovely, One other thread that is fun is put out by a company called Kreinik. It is a thicker fusible thread that you can use for flower stems and other line bits. Did I mention its metallic??? Oooohh there comes out that crow! Love that thread!

Now that I mention shiny bits, how about Foil Glue. Love it! Put a dab on your quilted item, wait a bit, lay your multi-coloured foil on top, press, and voila! You have shiny bits on your masterpiece!
Love the glimmer!

Now notions are sometimes dull, but we have to have our rotary cutters, rulers, mats, stabilizers,
fusible products, scissors, etc. I guess they don't have a lot of glam power. I can't live without them, but do they top my favourite list? Not really, but I'd be toast without them. I'll give them a nod, but go back to the fun stuff!

I have to mention embellishments. They are so much fun, and favourite things include wooly bits and bobs, beads large and small, felting, and buttons. All embellishments are fun. They are the finishing touches to my artworks. They all come under favorites, because they complete the work in the nicest possible way. They add pizazz!

Now that was fun, I went from a small amount of favourites to a massive amount by the end of the page. It is somewhat freeing to say – I have lots of favourites and you'll never pin me down to a few limited items! I do have more favourites in my world, but that would be another page, and I have a favourite computer game to play now.

How about your list? Where do you start and finish? Do you have limitations?

 

Happy Quilting,

Karen Henry